Brick-machine



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

w. HILTON.

BRICK MACHINE. No. 349,600. v Patented Sept. 21, 1886.

witnesses v il 1 110 14 1 01 zzzwmzywz/i,

N PETERS, Phuwulho m her. Walhinglnm n. c.

(No Model.) a Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. HILTON.

BRICK MACHINE.

No. 349.500. Patented Sept. 21, 1886.

Ni PETERS. Phcmmho n hw. Washington. D. c.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

W. HILTON.

BRICK MACHINE.

No; 349,500. Patented Sept. 21, 1886.

FIIIII'IIIIIIIIIII/ WITNESSES N. VETERS. Fhcb-Lilhqgl'aaher, Wnhinglan.[LC- Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

YVILLIAM HILTON, OF DUNKIRK, NEW YORK.

BRICK-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 349,500, datedSeptember 21, 1886.

Application filed February 4, 1886. Serial No. 190,762. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HILTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Dunkirk, in the county of Chautauqua and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in, Brick Machines, ofwhich. the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in brick-machines, and moreparticularly to that class of machines in which the clay is tempered orpugged and forced into molds of suitable shape.

The object of my invention is to provide a machine comparativelyinexpensive and at the same time reliable and effective in operation.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my machine.Fig. 2 is a sectional end view of the pressing-plunger, press-box,clod-cutter, and mold-box, and a portion of the temperingchamber. Fig. 3is a top or plan view of the frame for pushing the moldboxes forward.Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the devices shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 isan enlarged View of a portion of the pressingframe, as will more fullyappear. Fig. 6 is a front view of a modified form of the hooks. Fig. 7is a side View of the lower portion of the machine.

A indicates the grinding-tub or temperingchamber, made of boiler-iron orother suitable material, and by preference about forty-two inches highand forty inches in diameter, but may be of any size desired. Thetemperingchamber A is supported on the cast-iron frame 1, one at eachside, said frames being cast in one piece and secured to the woodenframe 0 in any substantial manner.

2 is a metalplate which forms the bottom of the tempering-chamber, andis securely bolted to the upper side of the frame 1.

B are posts made of angle-iron, the lower ends of which are secured tothe frames 1, while their upper ends are secured to stringers O, orother suitable supports which will hold the machine rigidly in position,it being understood that four of these posts are used-one at each cornerof the machine.

The tempering-chamber is provided with a central wrought-iron shaft, D,which is providedwith the usual cast-steel knives or blades fortempering the clay, and a large forcingblade near the lower end forpressing the clay through an opening in the side of the temperingchamber into the pressbox. The knives are not shown in the drawings, butmay be of the kind ordinarily used in this class of machines.

E is a large bevel-wheel secured to the upper end of the shaft D, whichmeshes with the small bevel-gear pinion F, said gear-wheel. F beingmounted on a shaft secured in proper bearings in the stringers orsupports O,which in turn is driven by the spur-wheel G on the maindriving-shaft H. The shaft H is provided with suitable band-wheels, I,by which power is applied to drive the machine from any suitable source.The shaft D is also provided with another mitered gearwheel, K, whichmeshes with a similar wheel, K, (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1,) onthe shaft L, the function of which will be described in connection withthe pressing frame or plunger.

M is a rectangular frame adapted to slide in the guides N, the lower endof which is adapted to work snugly in the press-box O to force the claydown into the molds P, which are located underneath the same, the lowerend of therectangular frame M acting in the capacity of acompression-plunger to force the clay into all parts of the mold.

R is a triangular frame detachably secured to the adjustable bar S ofthe rectangular frame M by means of spring-hooks T, said triangularframe being designed to work up and down with the rectangular frame M.The triangular frame R is adjusted with relation to the frame M by meansof a pin inserted in one of the holes a, which enters under the lowerend of the bar S. This regulates the distance the press-frame is toenter the press-box to force of the slot U, and thus prevent the samefrom wearing away too fast and to reduce the friction.

As before indicated,T are spring-hooks or safety-catches pivoted in theframe R at b,

said hooks being adapted tothook over the up-' modification in which thehooks T are held in contact with the upper end of the bar S, by means ofthe strap-springs A,which impinge on the hooks, said springs beingsecured at their lower ends, as shown, and provided with set-screws a,working in the band or hook b, and by which means the tension of thesprings is regulated. In this instance two spring hooks are employed oneach side, which are connected at their upper ends by the boltsc,against which the tops of the springs Aimpinge to hold said catches inposition on top of the bar S. The object of this flexible connection isto guard against breakage of the machine when WOIking very stiff clay,or when working, stony clay. If a stone should get fast under theplunger-frame M, the latches T will open by the undue strain and let thebar S pass up and permit the frame R to descend and allow the crank-armV to complete its revolution without doing violence to or breaking themachine. WVhen the crank-arm Vmalges its upward movement, itcarries withit the frame R, and when raised to its highest point the latches T willclose over the end of the bar S and be ready to force the plunger downinto the press-box again to fill the molds with clay. The tension of thespring-actuated arms in Fig. 5 is regulated by turning the heads 0 ofthe boltsd to the right or left, as occassion may require.

13 is the front plate or door of the press-box O, the upper edge ofwhich is pivoted in the standards D, so that the door can be swung,

on said pivots by means of the hand-lever E and allow the operator tohave access to the interior of the pressbox to remove stones or otherobstructions which may have found their way into the same, the pivotedbars F being turned down in front of the door to hold the same in aclosed position when the machine is in use.

G is the clod-cutter or grating through which the clay is forced intothe mold-box by the plunger M, said grating being hung on pivots at eachend of the press-box 0, so that it will adjust itself to and fit snuglyon the top of the mold-box and prevent the clay from working out betweenthe grating'and the top of the mold-box. The clod-cutter or grating G ismade with the end openings larger than the ones next to them, and theseintermediate openings are made larger than the center one, in order thatthe clay will be forced equally into all the mold-cavities, and thebrick made of uniform density.

As before referred to, H is an opening in the side of the mixing-tub sixinches high, through which the clay is forced by the pugging or mixingshaft into the press-box O. The plunger has a movement of about teninches, and therefore passes down fourinches below the opening B, a sidepiece, I, being secured to the p1unger,which closes theopening H whenthe plunger is at its lowest point and prevents the escape of the clayfrom the mixing-tub. The bottom of the mixingchamber, as well as the topof the grating or clod-erusher, is made tapering,so as to form atapering cavity, 6, which decreases in size as the plunger descends, theprojection or knifeedge f on the plunger serving to cut off and confinethe proper amount of clay under the plunger to fill the molds.

'L is a frame pivoted at 3 t0 the frame 1, and located under the mixingor' puggingcha-mher and the press-box on which the moldboxes aresupported, said frame being adapted to be raised and lowered by the camsM, mounted on the shaft N, said shaft N being mounted 011 the adjustablebracketsd and operated by the lever O. The object of this adjustment isto enable the operator to quickly raise and lower the frame in caseswhere the mold-boxes have become obstructed. The front end of the frameL is provided with two or more rollers, P, mounted parallel with the Isides thereof, onto which the filled molds are pushed, and by whichmeans the off-bearers are enabled to bump the molds against theprojections 5 to loosen the clay in the molds, so the newly-formed brickwill readily slip therefrom.

' R are rollers mounted transversely to the rollers Pin the frame Lunderthe pressbox, on which the molds are supported, as shown in Fig. 2, andby which means the molds are more readily pushed from under the pressboxO and grating G by the automatic devices which will now be described.

S is a rectangular frame mounted on suitable rollers, so that it can bereadily pushed back and forth on the frame 1 by means of a cranlgandpitman secured to the lower end of the shaft D. The frame S is providedwith a cross-bar, T, said cross-bar being made adj ustable by means ofthe screw-rods V. which pass through the ends of the cross-bar T. Thecross-bar T is arranged to impinge against the mold-boxes and push themforward as the frame S is driven in that direction, so that the boxwhich has just been filled with clay will be pushed forward from underthe clay-box and an empty box will be placed under said clay-box, readyto be filled.

The object of making the cross-bar T adj ustable is to accommodate it tomolds of different size and to regulate the distance the mold-boxes areto be pushed out from the claybox.

To prevent the breaking of the mold-boxes while being pushed out by theframe S from under the press-box, in case there are anyobstructions-such as large stones or the clogging of the mold-boxes whenpartly inserted- I provide a detachable coupling between the frame S andthe shaft D, which will become detached when undue strain is exerted.This IIO detachable coupling consists of the following parts: V is asliding bar mounted in suitable guides, g, in the frame S, said barbeing connected to a crank-arm on the bottom of the shaft D below themixing-tub, as has already been described. The sliding bar is held backby the springactuated latch h, said latch being secured to the rod orshaft 2', which in turn is connected tothe springbar k by means of thebent lever Z and adjustable bolt on, said bolt-serving to adjust thetension of the spring, and in this manner increase or decrease the powerof resistance of the catch or latch h. It will be noticed that if by anyaccident the mold-boxes should become clogged, so that the cross-bar Tcannot move them without breaking or injuring them, the latch Zr willyield to the pressure of the sliding bar V and permit it to pass overthe same any number of times, or until the obstruction is removed, andwhen this is done the frame S will be carried forward and the moldsmoved without breaking or injuring the machine. The empty mold-boxes areinserted through the opening 7 in the side of the frames 1, so as to beplaced in the path of the crossbar T, which forces them forward underthe press-box and pushes the newly-filled moldboxes out from under thepress-box onto the front end of the frame L. The press-box O is linedwith any suitable material,and is held in place and adjusted by means ofthe screwbolts 8.

Having thus described my inventi0n,whatI claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

1. In a brick-machine of the character described, the clay forcing orpressing plunger of which is detachably secured to the operating-fran1e,as described, whereby said clayforcing plunger is relievedfrom' unduestrain, as described.

2. In a brick-machine of the character described, the frame R, providedwith the springactuated catches T, and operated by the shaft L, asdescribed, in combination with the plunger or pressing frame M, havingthe adjustable bar S, adapted to engage with the catches T, as setforth.

3. In a brickmachine of the character described, the catches T, adaptedto engage with the top of the bar S, in, combination with thespring-actuated levers A, or their described equivalents, and devices,substantially as described, for regulating the amount of pressure to beexerted on the catches, as set forth.

4. In a brick-machine of the character described, the frame S, providedwith the adj ustable cross-bar T, whereby the same is adapted to movemold-boxes of different sizes, as set forth.

5. In a brick-machine of the character de scribed, the movable frame S,provided with the spring-catch h and operatingbar V, as described,whereby said bar is permitted to slide over the catch when unduepressure is exerted, as set forth.

6. In a brick-machine of the character described, the mold-pushing frameS, provided with an adjustable cross-bar, T, and the adjustablespring-actuated catch 71, in combination with the bar V and devices,substantially as described, for operating the bar and frame, as setforth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM HILTON.

Vi tnesses:

WM. MARTIN, J. W. PERKINS.

